Noble Energy and Israeli partners ink deal to supply West Bank plant

Houston-based Noble Energy and its Israeli partners in an offshore natural gas field will get about $1.2 billion to supply a Palestinian power plant in the West Bank for the next 20 years.

Palestine Power Generation Co. will pay Noble and its partners in the Mediterranean project, Delek Drilling LP, Avner Oil Exploration LLP and Ratio Oil Exploration LP, for gas from the Leviathan well, according to a statement on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange website.

The group will provide as much as 4.75 billion cubic meters of gas for a plant Palestine Power plans to build in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, the Israeli companies said in the statement.

Discovery of the Leviathan field in 2010 was the world’s biggest in a decade. Israel expects gas from Leviathan and the nearby Tamar field to meet its domestic needs for 25 years while providing the country with a bonanza from exports.